Competing on equal footing

I read with interest the letter from David McIntosh in your issue of 25 February.

There is a world of difference between accepting certain basic principles on the one hand and, on the other, apparently deliberately making attempts, in a public forum, to lay stress on practices, whether they are common or not, which are more likely to fix themselves in the minds of the public than are the many good practices which firms of solicitors employ.

Mr Mears' point seems to me to be well made. If Mr McIntosh wishes to cause a debate about such matters, the appropriate place is in the Law Society and in the profession.

If issues are raised in public, council members are entitled to reply to them. However, it does the profession no service for members of the council to initiate public debate on issues which might have the potential for the public (and possibly even more so, the press) to fasten on them in a misleading manner.



David Haley

Assistant solicitor

Preston Borough Council

Preston

Lancashire.